After leading the Northwestern State softball team in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage, freshman catcher Cassandra Barefield earned All-Louisiana Collegiate Softball Second-Team honors, the LSWA announced Sunday.

Barefield, a native of Houston, Texas and Cy Fair HS, blasted a team-high eight homers which ranked fifth in the Southland Conference. She also brought in 26 RBI and hit for an astounding .517 slugging percentage.

The slugger earned SLC Hitter of the Week honors on March 5 after hitting at a .500 mark, .571 on-base percentage and an impressive 1.056 slugging percentage. She knocked a hit in all six games that week, including a pair of multi-hit games and three home runs.

In an 8-0 victory over conference foe Stephen F. Austin on April 7, Barefield launched a first inning grand slam to centerfield to bust open the game.

She also homered in each of the two games of a doubleheader against North Texas to end the season on May 5.

The freshman came through with clutch hits all season long, and tallied seven multi-RBI contests. She played in all 50 games for NSU, including 43 starts.

Barefield hit for a .267 batting average on the season, including four multi-hit games and two three-hit performances.

She finished three-for-three with two runs scored on Feb. 24 against Arkansas, who finished out the season at the NCAA Tournament Regional Finals.

“Cassandra had a great freshman year for us. She has a big, powerful swing and really made an impact on our lineup throughout the season,” said head coach Donald Pickett. “We expect her to continue improving both at the plate and defensively, and she will have the opportunity to become one of the biggest hitters in our conference before her career is over.”

Louisiana-Lafayette's Christi Orgeron earned LSWA Player of the Year after leading the nation with 91 RBI and cranking 21 homers. LSU ace Rachele Fico won LSWA Pitcher of the Year with a NCAA best 0.98 ERA.

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